The Hartwick College men’s lacrosse team plays its season opener against 11th-ranked St. Lawrence at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Hamilton College.

The Hawks went 8-8 (4-3 Empire 8) and reached postseason play for the fourth straight year under head coach Bill Bjorness last season. The Saints went 11-2 last year.

Bjorness guided the Hawks, who return five starters and two all-conference players, to an appearance in the inaugural Empire 8 Tournament last season. In addition, Hartwick reached the Eastern College Athletic Conference Upstate Lacrosse Tournament for the fourth straight year. The Hawks fell, 16-9, in the championship game to then 15th-ranked RIT.

The Empire 8 Conference was the top-rated Division III lacrosse conference in the nation last season, according to the website La[an error occurred while processing this directive]xPower.com. Three Empire 8 teams are ranked in the 2005 USILA preseason national poll, which features No. 6 Nazareth, No. 8 Ithaca and No. 15 RIT.

Hartwick also plays non-conference games against No. 2 Cortland and No. 9 Springfield.

Senior Kyle DeVoe and junior Tom Dachille lead the Hawks defense. DeVoe, a three-year starter, is a three-time all-conference selection and enters the season as one of the top close defensemen in the region. He started in 15 games and had six points (three goals, three assists) and 35 ground balls a year ago. Dachille started in 5 of 16 games and picked up 27 ground balls.

Juniors Mike Rebarchik, Dan O’Connor and Pat Hanley will compete for the third starting spot at close defense.

The first midfield line will be paced by senior Devin Poole, junior Mike Debrossy and sophomore Pat McCormack. Poole earned all-conference honors last season, after contributing 27 points on 15 goals and 12 assists. Debrossy, a two-year starter at attack, moves to the midfield after finishing second on the team in scoring as a sophomore with 50 points (42 goals, eight assists). McCormack played in all 16 games as a freshman and had 15 points on 13 goals and two assists.

Senior Brian Prescott is the top returning attackman for Hartwick. He ranked third on the team in scoring last season with 37 points on 35 goals and two assists.

Prescott will be joined on the first attack line by senior Noah Hollander (15 goals, five assists) and sophomore Brian Miller (11 goals, two assists).

Sophomore goalie Jason Fautas will take over as the starter because of the graduation of Mark Colite, who earned all-conference honors in all four of his seasons, from 2001-04. Fautas played in seven games as a freshman and started one. He faced 44 shots and had a 10.65 goals-against average.

Senior Adam Frys will start the season as the Hawks’ faceoff specialist. He won 193 of 321 faceoffs a year ago and picked up a team-high 106 ground balls. Sophomore John Cornicello will contribute on faceoffs behind Frys.

Junior Mike Vasile enters his second year as a starter at the longstick defensive midfielder position. Freshman Ryan Welch will also see minutes along with Vasile.

Seniors Gavin McCutchan (one goal) and Drew Rose return as starting shortstick defensive midfielders.